The Avatar and the Fire Lord

"The Avatar and the Fire Lord" is the sixth episode of the third season of the American animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the 46th episode overall. The show follows Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), the last airbender and the “Avatar”, on his journey to bring balance to a war-torn world by mastering all four elements: air, water, earth, and fire. On his quest, he is joined by companions Katara (Mae Whitman), Sokka (Jack DeSena), and Toph Beifong (Jessie Flower). The season also follows Zuko (Dante Basco) as he returns to the Fire Nation only to face his conflicting feelings about his part in the war. The episode was written by Elizabeth Welch and directed by Ethan Spaulding.

The episode, written by Elizabeth Welch and directed by Ethan Spaulding, follows both Aang and Zuko as they learn about the shared past between the past Avatar Roku and a prior Fire Lord Sozin, and how Sozin's ambition and Roku's mistakes led to the beginning of the Hundred Year War. The episode was released in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2007, before airing on Nickelodeon in the United States two days later. The episode received critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest episodes of the series.

Plot
Aang is visited in a dream by Avatar Roku who tells him to meet him on his island on the summer solstice. In the Fire Nation, Zuko wakes to find someone has left him a scroll telling him he must find out about his great-grandfather's death in order to understand his own destiny. The next day, Zuko asks Azula about Sozin, to which she reveals he passed away in his sleep. Zuko that night finds that the scroll has a hidden message telling him he will find the truth in the Dragonbone Catacombs. Zuko enters the Catacombs and finds the secret history of Fire Lord Sozin. Meanwhile, Aang visits Roku in the Spirit World and the two visit Roku's past memories where it is revealed Roku and Sozin were best friends. On the pair's 16th birthday, which they shared with each other, Roku was announced the new Avatar and was sent away to begin his training in mastering the next three elements: air, water, and earth. Before he leaves, Sozin gave him the hair ornament typically worn by the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, a royal Fire Nation heirloom. Roku accepted it and wore it for the remainder of his life.

While training at the Southern Air Temple, Roku becomes good friends with a young Gyatso, who would later go on to become a father figure and friend to Aang. Roku states that "some friendships are so strong, they can even transcend lifetimes." When Roku returns to the Fire Nation after completing his training, Sozin welcomes him back with open arms. Roku marries his childhood sweetheart, Ta Min, with Sozin as his best man. At the wedding, Sozin talks to Roku about the Fire Nation is living in an age of prosperity and peace, and that they should share this with the rest of the world. Roku, disturbed by this, tells him to stop thinking such thoughts and that the four nations are meant to remain separate for a reason: to maintain balance.

Many years later, Roku and his animal companion Fang learn that Sozin has already invaded some of the Earth Kingdom colonies. When Roku confronts him on this, Sozin declares that Roku's first loyalty should be to the Fire Nation as one of its citizens. Sozin attacks Roku but the Avatar quickly defeats the Fire Lord and decides to spare him in the name of their past friendship. Twenty-five years later, Roku's island is consumed by a massive volcanic eruption. Roku tries taking on the volcano by himself while Ta Min and the island citizens escape, but he finds he is not powerful enough. Sozin arrives on his blue dragon and begins to help Roku deal with the volcano. While escaping the island, Roku inhales the poisonous gas leading to him becoming blind and weak, unable to continue. He asks Sozin to help him, but realizing that all his plans for the world are possible without Roku, Sozin leaves him to die. As Roku and Fang die together, Aang is born at the Eastern Air Temple.

Sozin's testament ends with him revealing that he, because he knew the Avatar would be born into the Air Nomads, wiped them out using the power of Sozin's Comet. He spent his final days hunting down the missing Avatar, "The Last Airbender", before dying in his sleep. Zuko visits the Fire Nation prison and questions Iroh, who he has figured out sent the scroll to him, what about Sozin's backstory he wanted to learn. Iroh reveals that Zuko is not only Sozin's great-grandson but Roku's as well, and that understanding the battle between the two of them can better help him understand the battle within himself. Iroh gives him the Fire Nation prince's hair ornament which he has had smuggled into the prison, and tells him he can redeem the sins of the Fire Nation and bring balance to the world. Aang exits the Spirit World and tells his friends that the lesson of the story was that everyone in the Fire Nation is capable of redemption and capable of great good or great evil. Toph asks Aang if he thinks Roku was right when he said friendships could transcend lifetimes, to which Aang holds her hand and says "I don't see why not."

Credits
Main cast members Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco and Dee Bradley Baker appear as the voices of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph Beifong, Zuko, and Appa respectively. Appearing as guests are Andrew Caldwell and James Garrett as teen and adult Avatar Roku respectively, Sean Marquette and Ron Perlman as teen and adult Fire Lord Sozin, Grey DeLisle as both Princess Azula and Ta Min, and Greg Baldwin as Zuko's uncle Iroh. This episode is the first in which Iroh has dialogue that is only provided by Baldwin after the death of Iroh's original voice actor, Mako, in July 2006.

The episode was directed by Ethan Spaulding and written by Elizabeth Welch.

Production
The animation for the episode was done by JM Animation.

Creators of the show Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko claimed this episode was one of the most complex of the series, with by far the most background designs of any episode. The background of an iceberg in the South Pole seen during Sozin's flashback was based on a photo sound designer Benjamin Wynn took while in Antarctica. Needing to depict the submerged portion of an iceberg in the actual episode, Konietzko flipped the original image of the visible icy mass upside-down. The background behind Sozin's motivation, being that he wants to share the Fire Nation's peace and wealth with the other nations, comes from a concept from Japanese Imperialism called the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere which the Japanese used during World War II to great criticism.

Reception
The episode received critical acclaim from fans and critics and is considered one of the best episodes of the show.

Hayden Childs of The A.V. Club praised the episode, commenting: "After the personal backstory of “The Beach,” the Avatar team was wise to schedule an episode that delves into the background of the series’ greater arc. On rewatch, it’s hard to tell how much of this was mapped out before the earlier seasons were made, but it seems an essential part of the mythology that Sozin and Roku were lifelong friends before becoming bitter enemies, an important current of subtext running throughout Aang and Zuko’s every encounter." Max Nicholson of IGN gave the episode a rating of 9.5 out of 10, writing that the episode "remains one of the series' strongest episodes, as it explained how the 100 Year War began. In addition to top-notch worldbuilding, this episode also featured a smaller, emotional story about how two friends, Roku and Sozin, began a generations-long conflict spanning the entire world."